Senior Year
by weptwishes
Summary: High school AU. Korra's the new girl, in a new town and a new school. Which apparently means a whole other love life. Readers get to choose who Korra ends up with throughout the story.
1. Chapter 1

Author's introduction:

So, here's the lowdown on the fic. Basically, this is going to be an AU, high school Legend of Korra fanfic; so yes, it's in our world, and yes, Korra and the gang are all high schoolers.

I'm hoping that you guys will find this to be one of those rare AU fics that don't stereotype, that seems realistic, and that is overall entertaining. My goal is NOT to make you cringe at a terribly written jocks vs. nerds thing, so no worries.

I really thought out the characters' backgrounds- my one thing is that they keep their personalities, but they seem like average American teenagers (note that this means everyone is somewhat culturally diverse, since everyone in America has some sort of culture, yeah?) For example, the 'water tribe' culture of Korra translates into her indian heritage of this story. I found ways to incorporate everything into an AU

I hope you guys enjoy. So without further ado, let's get this thing on the road! There are further notes on how this story will work at the end of the chapter.

* * *

Korra furrowed her eyebrows as she examined her class schedule.

They made art class her elective. She had _specifically_ asked to be put into the P.E group.

Sighing, the senior stuffed the schedule into her bag and slung it over her shoulder, leaving the table that she had rested it on. It was her first day in her new high school, and currently, she seemed a little…off-put.

Not that she was scared. Korra was never scared of a challenge. It was just that this school was so much bigger than she was used to. Her junior class had about 80 people in it- but in this school, the average was 300.

"_You love people," _Korra thought to herself. _"Nothing to fear here."_

As she turned the corner of the stairs, a body came slamming into hers- and tackling them both to the ground.  
"Watch it!" Korra scathed, whipping around. She found herself face-to-face with possibly the most infuriated face ever.

"It's not my fault that some of us decide to get to class _on time_," the guy tossed back, glaring at her. "We've got a minute until the bell rings. Hurry it up." And with that, he was gone.

She huffed, staring after him in distaste. Some people were just so annoying, and this school seemed to have plenty of those types.

* * *

"Uh, the bell rang about 10 minutes ago."

Fumbling with her locker once again, Korra scrunched her face up in frustration and glanced again at the code she was given. "Tell that to the front desk," she answered, stuffing the code in her pocket and turning to the speaker. "They screwed up my combination or something."

The person she was facing had a kind look to him- welcoming green eyes, with charming hair that reminded her of Superman, oddly. He was a bit taller than she was, but not too overpowering- everything about him screamed 'friendly'.

"Weh-hell, locker buddy," he exclaimed, "it just so happens that I am the king of breaking into lockers." Winking, the guy ushered towards Korra's locker. "May I?"

Korra shrugged. "Go for it."

And, in less than five seconds, her locker was propped open and her buddy was grinning. "Wow, I'm impressed," Korra commented as she took out the books she needed.

"I'm here all week," the guy joked. "Name's Bolin," he added as he took out whatever he needed from his locker. "I'm a junior here." Turning towards her, he stared at her expectantly.

"Senior," Korra replied, shutting her own locker.

"Oh, my brother's a senior!" Bolin informed, choosing to walk alongside with Korra as she made her way down the hall. She took note of his way of making everything feel so comfortable. It was something she liked. "I'm headed that way," she said, pointing to the hall to the right.  
"So am I," Bolin responded. "In no rush, though. Math class," he added, rolling his eyes.

"I feel you," Korra laughed, making her way down the hall.

As they talked, Korra learned that Bolin and his brother were both half-chinese and half-japanese. "Mako -that's my brother- he takes mainly after my mom's Japanese side, but dad always said that I have a tad bit more of China in my blood," Bolin commented. "Where are you from?"

"My parents are from northern India," Korra said, turning to see Bolin's puzzled look.

"The eyes?" she smirked, knowing that it was those that usually confused people about her heritage. They were blue, which wasn't that common for indian people.

Bolin nodded, but held up a finger. "Wait- I think I have an answer for that. Alexander the Great's invasion of the Indian lands, way back when. You've got the light eyes because of that, yeah?"

Korra raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You know your history!" she responded.

Bolin shrugged. "What can I say- I'm a history geek. This is my stop," he continued, pointing to a classroom down the hall, "But I'll catch you at lunch?"

"Sure thing," Korra smiled. "See you later."

* * *

"This is such bullshit," Korra groaned under her breath, copying down the chemistry notes that her teacher had written on the board. It was only the first day of school, and already they were jumping on empirical formulas. Korra didn't even remember what a 'mole' was.

"Regret choosing this class, too?" A voice responded from her left.

"You don't even know," she smirked, allowing herself to glance at her partner for a moment. "My name's Korra," she added, giving the girl a smile.

"Asami," she replied, giving Korra a sweet smile.

Giving her a second look, Korra was shocked a girl like Asami would even give her the time of day to respond to her unimportant comment. Asami was dressed in ankle boots, with stylish clothing that probably cost more than Korra's car. She was also really pretty, with a perfect make-up scheme to top it all off. Her raven-dark hair cascaded over her shoulders in just the right way, ending down the lower half of her back.

Compare all that to a hoodie-and-jeans Korra, with converse that were who knows how many years old and dark brown hair tied up in a definitely unstylish, everyday way.

"Wanna partner up?" Asami asked, tearing Korra away from her thoughts. "I don't think I can do this homework without someone else to complain with."  
Korra laughed, shrugging her desk closer to Asami's. "Sure," she replied.

Funny; Korra always thought that the gorgeous girls were supposed to be the mean ones. Asami, however, seemed different.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight. You skipped a grade, but apparently it was like pre-k or something so it doesn't matter to you that much. But hey, you're the same age as me, which is totally cool. And then you went to a small private school in some small town your entire life. And_ then _you took a dip in the real world when you came to this place. Welcome, by the way. The real world's version of high school sucks ass."

Bolin had demanded basically Korra's entire life story in the 10 minutes that she had sat with him during lunch. Rolling her eyes dramatically, Korra nodded her head. "For the millionth time, yes," she answered, faking her annoyance. Although she had just met Bolin and Asami, she felt like they were close enough to know when each other was actually annoyed versus to when they were faking it.

Asami put down her soup, reaching into her lunchbox for something else. "Cool life," she commented, meeting Korra's eyes. "I was actually about to go to some posh boarding school, myself- had to force my dad to let me go here."

"Anything's better than a boarding school," Bolin agreed. "So what- Hey! Mako!"

Korra pouted in curiosity, turning so that she could face the way Bolin was facing. Immediately, her pout turned into a scowl.

"You," she muttered with disgust, narrowing her eyes at the senior that Bolin had excitedly invited to their table.

It was the kid that she had run into in the morning.

Mako didn't even glance at Korra. He instead diverted his attention to Bolin. "What is it?" he asked, taking a peek at his cellphone's clock.

"Mako, I would like you to meet my new friend Korra. Korra, this is my brother," Bolin introduced with a flurry of his arms.

"You guys have any classes together?" he awkwardly asked when Korra and Mako just glared at each other.

"Not that I know of," Mako responded, crossing his arms. "Look, Bolin, I've got to go talk to Coach Welks. I'll see you later." With that, and a nod to Asami, Mako left.

"What a jerk," Korra said once he left. "No offense, Bo- I know he's your brother and all- but seriously!" Propping her head on an elbow, she frowned.

"Mako is a bit of an iceberg, but he's not that bad," Asami commented, laying a hand on Korra's shoulder. "I've known him for a while."

Bolin nodded. "I'm sure you two will hit off just fine," he added, stuffing his mouth with his hamburger.

Korra wasn't so convinced, but it wasn't like Mako mattered all that much, anyway. Something about him just got her irked up abnormally, though. Shrugging it off, she resumed to her conversation with Asami and Bolin.

* * *

Turns out Mako and Korra did have a class together.

English.

Otherwise known as the easiest subject (besides P.E, of course), Korra wasn't really sweating it all that much. But given that the only seat available was one right between Mako and some sleazy-looking dude, Korra knew that this class was going to be a real challenge.

She said nothing as she plopped into her seat, focusing on taking her books out.

"Hey," Korra breathed to Mako as she sat up. He acknowledged her with a small glance- it wasn't much, but it was at least _something._

"You new, sweetheart?," The voice from her right commented.

Sleazy voice to go with a sleazy looking guy.

"Yep," Korra responded, opening her book. She didn't look up, mainly because she had no interest in starting a conversation with the guy.

"Looks like our high school got a real _exotic_ prize, then," he commented, giving her a weird smirk. "Name's Tahno," the guy added. "I'm available anytime, by the way," he whispered, his smirk growing.

Korra was just about to quip back when the teacher walked in and the class started.

* * *

Korra walked into the gym, decked out in her basketball gear with her headphones blaring the Strokes. Popping them out, she placed her ipod on the bleachers while she took her ball out of the bag.

No one was around for the basketball team meeting just yet, so Korra decided to shoot a few rounds. By her 5th (net only) three-point shot, people started filing into the gym and grabbing the spare balls.

Two official-looking adults strolled in- probably the coaches. "Girls," one of them commanded, her voice uptight and strict.

The other coach was bald, and it was obvious that he was the guy's coach by the way they crowded around him.

"My name is Lin," the female coach said once all the players were surrounding her, "and this is my colleague, Tenzin. You refer to us as your coaches." Taking out a clipboard, Coach Lin scanned the list and rested her pen on a name. "Korra Tareen? Is that someone new?"

Korra cleared her throat, stepping up. "Yeah, actually. That's me," she said, smiling at the totally unfriendly-looking coach.

"Hm." Arching an eyebrow, Lin wrote something down on the board, giving Korra no further comment. Korra pouted, stepping back into the crowd.

"So today, we will split the teams evenly and play a couple of games. You won't be marked based on if your team wins or not, but how you play," Coach Tenzin announced in his calm but powerful voice. "It will be co-ed for today, but Lin and I will eventually split it off. Some of you will make the cut, and some of you will not."

A little while later, everyone was in their teams. However, the coaches seemed to be waiting for someone.

Finally, whoever they were waiting for strolled in. Two people, actually.

"Korra!" Bolin said in surprise, giving her a wave. "I forgot you said you played basketball." He put his stuff down, giving Coach Lin a note.

Mako made his way to the coaches. "Which team?" he asked, apparently familiar with the starting activity's format.

"Both of you will be placed on team A," Tenzin responded, pointing towards Korra's area. Korra smiled, glad that she was paired with a familiar face.

In two hours, Team A had won 5 of the 6 games played.

Apparently, Korra, Mako, and Bolin really made the power trio.

"Really good game, guys!" Korra announced as she pulled her bag over her shoulder. She was sure that they would all make the cut- after all, they whopped butts on the court.

Bolin grinned. "I'm glad we have so much in common, Korra," he said. "I'll see you outside in a bit?"  
"Okay," Korra responded as Bolin walked out.

Korra faced away awkwardly; it was now just her, Mako, and the coaches in the gym. Lin and Tenzin were huddled in the corner, comparing clipboard notes.

"…You played good," Korra complimented, turning towards Mako.

"It's expected. I'm the guy's captain," he said, pulling his gym bag across his shoulders.

"Really? Well, watch out, Team Captain," Korra joked. "I'm really a bit of competition when it comes to basketball."

For the first time she had seen that day, Mako actually cracked a bit of a smile. "We'll see," he commented, before he turned to leave.

* * *

"…So since Mako goes to work right after this, I have to hitch rides with friends," Bolin finished, done telling Korra about his lack of having a car.

"I'd offer to give you one, but you live a bit away from my place," Korra responded apologetically.

"Oh no, it's fine!" Bolin responded quickly. "I got a ride with Coach Tenzin today, but thanks for- _shit_."

" 'Shit' what?" Korra asked, glancing up from her car's trunk to Bolin. She turned to face where he was looking at.

"Hey, jockheads!" Tahno was shouting, ushering Bolin and Korra over to him and his crowd of cronies.

"What type of nickname is 'jockhead'?" Bolin muttered in annoyance. Louder, he said, "we should just ignore him."

"No," Korra said, closing her car's trunk. "I'm going to deal with that guy."

Korra began walking towards her classmate, with Bolin catching up.

"Korra- I don't think you understand- this guy is really trouble- he doesn't respect-"

Korra had already reached Tahno. "What do you want?" She spat, maintaining her usual strong eye contact.

"Well ya see," Tahno started, "I said I was available anytime, and I really wanted to spend some of that time with you." His friends urged him on as he came closer and audibly said, "_without_ clothes on."

Korra's fist jabbed out and hit Tahno square in the face. His friends shrugged back automatically, letting out sounds of surprise.

Tahno took a moment, turning his head towards Korra as he wiped his face on his sleeve. "_Okay_," he sneered. "You're missing out."

With that, he left, and Korra turned to go walk back to her car.

Bolin was staring at her in awe. "That was- wow. _You're_ wow."

Korra smiled.

* * *

Getting in her car, Korra gave herself a moment before starting the engine. It had been her first day of school, but it was already so full of action.

Two taps at her window got her attention. She turned towards the noise, seeing that idiot Tahno and…was that her ipod?

Rolling down the window, she grabbed the item from his hand.

"…Thanks," she said, giving him a look that wasn't completely full of contempt.

Tahno winked. "Anytime," he said. "Guess you owe me one, if you don't count the punch."

"Yeah, well, you deserved that," Korra responded, preparing to roll the window back up.

"The Strokes are great," Tahno randomly commented. "Happened to see what was playing. _Take it Or Leave It _is their best song, according to me. You should check it out."

He walked away, leaving Korra slightly surprised that he even knew what the Strokes were.

"My favorite's the Arctic Monkeys," she shouted after him for no reason at all.

He turned around and smiled, before walking away again.

Weird.

* * *

Alright, long first chapter.

You're probably confused that there's no one love interest. And it's true; I kept it open-ended. That's where the readers come in.

See, I know reviews are hard to come by. But when the readers actually have a chance to decide the outcome of the story- that's when they'll interact.

So what does this mean? Well, you guys can 'vote' for your favorite love interest- and keep in mind, it's not really a 'vote' as it is a popular voice throughout the story. So if the majority of you guys were interested in Mako throughout the story, then in the end, Mako will be the winner.

Though I am Makorra-biased, I will be neutral for this story.

Let me know who you like. It could be anyone from Asami to Tahno to even Coach Tenzin. It's whatever you think is cool.

Please no anonymous votes (though I do accept anonymous praise and constructive criticism )

Also, I'm sorry this chapter was slightly more towards Tahno! That may occasionally happen with characters, but I'll balance it out in the next chapters.

Next chapter, I'll introduce Iroh and Amon. Rate of updates depends on popularity of the story.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys! So, I got some awesome reviews for that last chapter. Really appreciated the support!

I changed the rating from K to K+ because there is cursing and kissing in this story, so I guess it's not safe for everyone.

I need to state something before I start this chapter: I dedicated this fic to askbadasskorra's roleplay and mun. Askbadasskorra was a tumblr blog (she deactivated), but the mun really helped me out through things and I loved her Korra. So if you see any similarities between this fic and her fics, you know why.

ALSO, updated rules on voting are at the end of the chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

"I am so fucking dead."  
"You're over-reacting."  
"Oh, you haven't met my parents yet."

Korra stared down at the big, red 62% on her latest chemistry quiz. The raven-haired girl next to her shrugged, laying a reassuring hand on Korra's arm.

"My dad's pretty bad too, but he comes through in the end. You'll live, right?" Asami joked, giving Korra a smile.

The bell rang, cueing the students to pack up their stuff. Standing up, Korra stuffed her test into her backpack, tossing it over one shoulder.

"I guess we'll see," Korra groaned. "But in my defense, Mr. Fitz didn't teach us _any_ of that shit!"

Asami nodded in agreement, walking by Korra's side as they exited the classroom. "You know what," she declared, "we should hang out sometime. De-stress. We deserve a break."

Korra sighed. "I am in," she stated. "As long as it doesn't involve chemistry, I am completely in."

Her friend grinned, stopping at her locker. "Great. I'll text you about it later."

* * *

Anticipation ate away at Korra as she sat through her last class before lunch. The girl could hardly focus on whatever Venn diagram her math teacher was doing, instead wishing that she was in front of that bulletin board _now_, looking at those basketball team lists _now_.

After what felt like an eternity (it was really only two minutes), the bell rang and Korra was out the door. She made her way to the school's major bulletin board, where there was already a crowd of people viewing whatever was on it.

Korra could see Bolin in the midst, his dark hair instantly recognizable even from behind. From a distance, however, something seemed wrong, and as she got closer-

There was only one list on the board.

"Hey," Korra heard from her left. Turning, she saw Bolin, and allowed him to pull her out of the crowd.

"Why is there no girls' list?" she asked him once they were out. She saw Mako in the far end of the hallway as he made his way towards Bolin.

"Um, see, about that," Bolin started, nervously scratching the back of his neck. "There hasn't exactly been a girls' basketball team for a while."

"…What do you mean."

"He means that the girls at our school don't have a thing for basketball. And the ones who can't make the cut." Mako appeared beside Bolin, his amber-brown eyes focusing on Korra's blue ones.

"But- there were two coaches! And- there- that is _not fair_!" The blue-eyed girl stammered out, putting her hands on her hips.  
"Don't blame me," Mako answered. "Besides, Coach Tenzin is our only coach. Ms. Beifong's the Dean of students; she's only at tryouts for school reasons."

"I'm really sorry, Korra," Bolin said, his green eyes verifying his apology. "I didn't tell you because I thought that maybe this year would be different, but…"

Korra crossed her arms, not giving up quite just yet. "Don't worry, Bo," she replied, shifting her gaze towards Mako and narrowing her eyes slightly. "I'll figure something out."

* * *

Pulling into an empty parking space, Korra cut the engine and jumped out of her car, practically sprinting through the door of the café. She was 2 minutes late for her interview, and while that wasn't that much of a gap, Korra wanted to appear on time and organized.

After all, this was a _job_ interview.

The guy behind the counter turned around as she entered, and Korra could hardly contain her gasp.

A big, ugly scar cut through the skin, marking half of his face to a red swelliness. The other aspects of his appearance were considerably handsome- dark hair, nice eyes, light skin- but the scar made an impact to it all.

"You the girl for the interview?" He asked, his voice reminding Korra strangely of Tahno's.

"Um- yeah," Korra responded, shaking herself out of her daze. Taking a quick glance at the guy's nametag, she asked, "Do you know where the manager is, Mr. Noatak?"

"Manager's never in. The dude who'll be interviewing you is right over there, though," he replied, pointing to a door around the corner of the counter.

Thanking him, Korra made her way over.

"And by the way," the voice added, "I go by Amon."

* * *

"Two minutes late."

Even though she personally didn't think it was a big deal, Korra said, "Sorry about that." She took a seat across her interviewer's desk. "Traffic was a state- I tried to make my way here best I could."

The guy looked up, and Korra almost froze at the resemblance he had to Mako. Although this man was older- 23, 24 maybe- he had the same dark hair (less spiky, though) and the same amber eyes (a shade lighter, when Korra took a second look). He wasn't built like Mako was, though- this guy was not lean but at the same time not stocky either. Korra was appreciating the balance, to say the least.

"My name is Iroh," her interviewer started, "and I'm a pretty trusted employee around here."  
"Must be, if the Manager leaves all his work for you," Korra blurted out, immediately regretting it. A snarky tone wasn't something many bosses liked.

To her surprise, however, Iroh let out a chuckle. Leaning back in his seat. "I get paid well for it," He shrugged, crossing his arms. "So, Korra- that's your name?- why should I hire you?"

Korra sat up, liking the bluntness of the question. "I'm a really hard worker, and I don't let anything get in my way of a goal. I might not put up with everyone's bullshit really well-" _shit, something about Iroh was making her talk like he was her friend and not her possible future boss-_ "but I'm generally good with people and I always work towards making the right people happy."

Iroh took a long look at her, before sitting up and folding his hands on his desk. "Come around Thursday, maybe for the 6 o'clock shift. We might have a spot open for you."

Korra's eyes widened in surprise. "Seriously?! Thank you!"

She stood up, grabbing her bag from the floor as she prepared her way out. "You won't regret it," she added to Iroh before turning to leave.

"That's the dream," he said after her, making Korra smile.

* * *

Korra liked to think that nothing could hold her back.

However, that Tuesday afternoon, the only thing holding Korra back from her goals was the walk between the gym and her car, parked in the lot front of it.

Holding her blue-cased phone up to her ear, Korra listened as Asami's voice sang out of it.

"_You're really going to do this."_  
"I really am." Korra groaned, throwing her head back. "Am I crazy for trying? I don't even know this Tenzin dude."  
_"Hey now, feminism is something that's never crazy,"_ Asami responded, making Korra crack a smile. _"Besides, you'll kick ass. Girl or no, they'll be fighting to have you on the team."_

"You're right. Thanks, Asami," Korra said into her phone, getting out of her car and pulling her gym bag from the passenger's seat. "I'll call you afterwards, yeah?"  
_"Got it. Good luck!"_

Head up high, Korra entered the gym, her hair pulled back in a ponytail with her long bangs bobby-pinned out of the way.

….and all the heads were turned towards her.

Korra's heart took a jump, but she didn't allow herself to hesitate as she set her stuff down in the bleachers. "Basketball practice?" she asked, responding to the questioning faces. "I'm here for it."

Coach Tenzin, from center of the boy's huddle, looked up from his clipboard as he faced Korra. "I'm sorry, but this is practice for the boy's team. I'm afraid there is no girl's team this year."  
"Or any year," a random boy stated, getting a couple of laughs from the rest of the crowd.

Korra shook her head, making her way towards the huddle. "You don't understand. I'm good. I can play- you all saw me on tryout day." She turned her attention to the Coach. "Coach Tenzin, I realize that this is something you haven't dealt with before, but give me a chance. I swear I'll make the most of it," Korra finished, trying her best to seem and sound like a mature adult.

The Coach paused, glancing back down at his clipboard. "While your skill was impressive, I'm still not sure if-"

"Let her." Mako, the last person Korra would expect to defend her, stepped up, meeting Korra's eyes. "We all saw her play, and I can say for everyone else that we need a player like that on our team." His eyes still didn't leave hers.

"Yeah!" Bolin's random voice joined, and Korra located him somewhere in the huddle. Smiling, he gave her a thumbs up.

Coach Tenzin faced Mako. "As captain of the team, are you confident that we need another player?"

His amber eyes finally breaking contact with the blue of Korra's, Mako responded, "If it's Korra."

Tenzin nodded, making a note on his clipboard. "I'll have to talk to Lin, but for now, you are free to join us for practice." He glanced up at Korra, giving her an appreciative nod. "You sure are a very determined girl."

Korra grinned. "I see that as a perk," she replied, quick to join the huddle.

* * *

After two hours of intense shooting, sprinting, and drill-running (nothing Korra couldn't handle), the players were free to go home. Korra stayed behind, however, waiting for Mako to be done with whatever he was doing.

He walked right past her, making his way to the door of the gym.

"Hey," Korra half-shouted, jogging to catch up with him as they exited outside. "I wanted to thank you," she stated, trying to meet his eyes as he continued walking. "Without your support, I don't think I would have been allowed to-"  
"Don't mention it," Mako shortly replied, unlocking his car once they came close to it.

Korra stopped, feeling dejected. "Well, um," she began, "It was a big deal. You're probably going to get a lot of shit for letting a girl on the team," she admitted, feeling a bit guilty for putting Mako in that position.  
Mako shrugged, finally turning to face Korra. "You're worth the risk," he responded.

_What was that supposed to mean?_

Korra was about to say something, maybe about Mako's confusing statement or maybe not about it at all, when a strict voice was heard from behind her.

"Ms. Korra," Lin stated, her short heels clicking on the cement of the parking lot as Korra turned around. When she turned back to face Mako, he was already in his car, reversing.

* * *

"You do understand that denying you the right to play on the team would give the school a lot of trouble, yes? Sets us in quite the trap."

Korra was in Ms. Beifong's (really intimidating) office, glancing at the clock that read 7:40 am. The Dean had asked her to meet her regarding her 'little stunt with the basketball team', as Beifong had put it.

Korra shook her head, denying Lin's claims. "That wasn't my intention. I want to play basketball and I'm not going to let some sexist rules stop me."

Lin stared down at Korra from her position, crossing her arms. "Fair enough," she stated. "But don't come crying to me if some boy gropes you inappropriately or if you get shoved a little too much."

_Ouch_. Beifong was really hitting it hard. "I can take care of myself," Korra replied icily.

"Oh, I'm sure you can," Ms. Beifong responded, equally as coldly.

Right when things were starting to enter an awkward silence, the door squeaked open and Bolin's head appeared from behind it. "Sorry to interrupt," he said, "But one of the teachers needs Korra right now."

"You're free to leave," the Dean dismissed, waving a hand at Korra's general direction.

* * *

"Dude, thanks so much for getting me out of that," Korra said once they were out of Beifong's earshot.

"Sure thing. No teacher wants to see you, by the way," Bolin stated, giving her a wink. "I just thought you'd need a little saving from Ms. Beifong's clutches."

"You'd think that she'd be supportive of my situation," Korra replied, unlocking her locker as Bolin did the same next to her.

"Beifong's got a chip for the entire team, really," he responded, taking out a binder. "She and Coach apparently had a relationship sort of thing, but that was a while ago. Like, before they worked together."

"Her and Coach Tenzin?!" Korra responded with shock, shutting her locker to face Bolin's green eyes.

Bolin nodded. "Coach really had some guts, breaking up with someone like her." The shrill of the bell suddenly rang, and Bolin quickly took a look at the watch on his left wrist. "I'll see you later!" He said, before taking off.

* * *

Korra groaned at the immense workload sitting on the passenger's seat, as she stopped at a red light. Her teachers really decided to pile it up today. With practice and work, the last thing Korra needed was a shit ton of homework. But of course, that's what she got.

Good thing practice had been cancelled for the day and Korra didn't have work just yet; she could finish the assignments all that afternoon.

Korra turned right, deciding that she needed a little treat to boost up her work ethic, and stopped in front of a Starbucks.

The shop wasn't as packed as she expected; assuming that she arrived a bit earlier than all the other students who chilled here after school, Korra examined the menu overhead.

"Couldn't stay away?" A velvety voice asked across the counter, making Korra jump a bit in surprise.

Smirking at her was Tahno.

"Shut up," she muttered. "I didn't know you worked here." Maybe if she did, she wouldn't have come here.

Or maybe she would have.

"A pleasant surprise, then," Tahno responded, taking his position at the cash register. "What can I get you?"

After ordering her drink, Korra shuffled in her purse for her wallet.

"You don't have to pay."  
"What?" Korra exclaimed, surprised. "Why?"

Tahno flipped the hair out of his eyes, but somehow, he looked more down-to-earth than Korra ever remembered him being. "Take it as my apology for being a giant douche last Friday." He handed Korra her drink; but before she could say anything, someone else had entered the coffee shop- someone who looked like one of Tahno's friends.

Suddenly, façade Tahno was back, and his down-to-earthiness disappeared. "See you, sweetheart," he winked flirtatiously, waving a hand.

Korra rolled her eyes, turning to leave; but she couldn't ignore that something in her wondered why Tahno was acting so _different _around her all of the sudden.

* * *

Wiping down the last table, Korra looked up as Iroh approached her.

"You did well today. You've officially got a job here, Korra."

"Thanks, man." Giving a last swipe, she put the rag in the pocket of her apron. She gave Iroh a small smile, walking with him as they entered the small employee room.

"So what's with that Amon guy?" she asked, untying her apron and hanging it on one of the hooks.

"Well, he's not that reliable," Iroh grumbled.

Amon had to leave earlier that day, claiming he had some 'family things' to attend to; his absence made the shop close early. Iroh was obviously not too happy about that.

"But I guess you're talking about the scar."

"Right."  
"He doesn't talk about it much," Korra's boss responded, shuffling a hand through his hair. The action immediately drew Korra, and she had to refocus for a second. "But from what I could tell, he got in some sort of fight a couple years ago. Scar's what came out of it."

"That really sucks," Korra muttered, shoving the last piece of cleaning equipment in the supply corner.

A text rang on her phone, and Korra pulled the thing out of her pocket, biting her lip as she read the text.  
"Everything okay?" She heard her boss ask.  
"Yeah," she responded. "My parents are just throwing a fit about my chem grade right now." She stuffed her phone back in her pocket, ready to leave.

"See you later, boss," She tossed, waving a hand as she walked past Iroh.

"Bye, kid," he responded.

Korra's back stiffened a bit- she didn't like Iroh calling her 'kid', even though it partially made sense. It felt weird to her.

She didn't notice, however, how Iroh stared after her as she walked away.

* * *

Voting rules recap:

You don't exactly 'vote' as much as you just give your opinion on who you think Korra would be good with. It could be anyone from Mako to Amon, really.

Also, anti-votes (ex: 'I just don't want Korra with Bolin!') will not be counted as anything. Vote for someone in particular.

Anonymous votes will also not be counted, but I'm okay with anonymous praise and criticism :)

So far, I haven't chopped anyone off the list yet, and when someone gets voted out they won't disappear completely from the story- they'll just not be a love interest anymore. The more popular ones will have more screentime; for this chapter, that was Mako and slightly Iroh.

This chapter was definitely not my favorite, but I had to get this one around to establish some other characters. I think we're pretty much done on introducing characters now; the story will get on a roll starting next chapter.

I'm guessing that, at this rate of views and reviews, I'll be updating weekly-ish. So please continue reading!

Some more prominent love interests of the chapter (though you could vote outside of this if you wanted to):

Mako

Tahno

Iroh

Bolin

Asami

Amon


	3. Chapter 3

**author stuff:** I know, I know. I'm a week late :( But this week was really chock-full with volleyball stuff (I'm on a recreational team) so can't blame me!

I had to force myself to write this chapter, since i made you guys wait so long. But I made sure to do my best! Sometimes you just don't write that well without the motivation, though. So this chapter is a bit short, but not boring I promise :P

* * *

Korra was having a terrible day.

Her hair was in a mess, with her bangs deciding not to cooperate and instead stick in random directions. Her breakfast cereal had spilled all over her jeans that morning, but she didn't have enough time to change; and she was still late to school. On top of that, her stupid chemistry teacher decided to sign her up for student-on-student tutoring since her grade was at a mid-C and Korra's parents were making the biggest fuss about it.

Good thing that the day was almost over. Finally, the last bell of the day rang, leaving Korra for her freedom-

Almost.

Frowning as she unlocked her locker, the senior stuffed her books in the space and took out her chemistry binder. She was signed up for a 30-minute session that afternoon, taking up whatever time between the end of the school day and basketball practice that she had.

"This tutoring better fucking help," Korra muttered to herself as she made her way to the chemistry classroom.

When she got there, however, her tutor was definitely not who she expected.

Amber eyes looked at her with slight surprise, before Mako's expression settled into his usual closed-off look.

"You're supposed to be my tutor?!" Korra asked. Mako was about the last person that she thought would be a chemistry student-mentor. Not that she thought he was stupid; he just seemed too stoic and anti-social to want to teach anyone anything, really.

"I've got the credentials," Mako assured her sarcastically. When she didn't respond, he raised his eyebrows. "Pull up a chair?"

"Oh. Right." Korra felt slightly embarrassed by her hesitation as she settled herself down across from Mako.

"So I was told that you had problems with- well, everything, really." To Korra's surprise, the teenage boy pulled out a stack of tests- _her _stack of tests.

"Hey- where did you get that?! Those are private!" She tried to snatch the tests from Mako's hands, but the guy had quick instincts, avoiding her touch.

She crossed her arms and pouted. This was going to be a long 30 minutes.

She watched as Mako layed out her most recent test- a one that she had gotten a low 72% on. Taking out some scratch paper and a periodic table (_what a nerd_, she thought), the amber-eyed guy cleared his throat before meeting her eyes.

"So, your main problem is with understanding how the different bonds work with electrons. The first thing you're ignoring is the energy levels…"

* * *

She walked with him as they exited the classroom.

"…Thanks," Korra finally said. "You really helped me out." She seemed to be thanking him for almost everything, Korra noticed.

"You're welcome," Mako responded, stuffing his hands in his jean pockets. It was sort of attractive, how he did that whenever he-

Catching herself, Korra shook herself out of it. Since when was she finding Mako attractive at all?! If anything, he was decent at best. He was certainly good looking, she gave him that, but his personality soured it all up. For the most part.

Trying to distract herself, Korra tried to make conversation with the guy as they walked awkwardly down the halls. "You really understand chemistry, huh?" she asked.

"I'm good at it," Mako responded with a shoulder shrug. "It makes sense to me." He gave her a sideway look, with the ghost of a smirk. "I'm guessing it's a bit different for you."

Korra shook her head, smiling. "Don't even get me started. I drive Asami to the wall with my complaints about that shit."

Mako chuckled- he had a nice chuckle- and Korra found herself feeling…a nice feeling.

Without knowing it, Mako had made her day a little bit brighter.

* * *

"You here yet?"  
_"Hold your horses, lady; I'm turning the corner."_

Korra grinned at the phone. "Great. I'll be right out."

It was a nice Saturday- and according to Asami, it was just the right weather to go race. The girl had told Korra about her infatuation with racecar driving, and apparently, there was some racetrack around town that she dominated at. Korra had made her friend promise her to show her the place.

She waved at Asami as her car- a sleek, red, absolutely expensive convertible of some type- pulled into her driveway. Getting in the car, the blue-eyed-girl said to Asami, "So I won't, like, pee my pants or anything, right?"

The heiress winked. "Can't promise anything."

About half an hour later, they had reached the famed area that Asami spent her free time in.

Of course, Asami left out the part about how the racetrack was _a legit_ racetrack.

And how freaking awesome it all was.

Korra could only gape as she saw cars zip around the track, with fancy refs decorated in stopwatches in the sidelines. Asami put on her helmet, giving Korra one last look. "You ready for this?"

Korra patted her own helmet, trying to avoid her own nervousness. "Pshh, born ready," she muttered. "This is totally not going to kill me, right? No, it won't. It definitely won't. Right?"

Asami laughed, grabbing Korra's hand as she led the way (her hands were really soft, Korra noted). All too soon, they were at the starting line, and Asami was flooring the accelerator-

It took all of the blue-eyed-girl's willpower not to scream her guts out.

"I think I may have peed my pants," Korra said when the car finally came to a stop.

Asami grinned at her. "That was fun though, right?"  
Korra nodded, grinning back. "Definitely."

She helped Korra get out of the car, walking with her as they exited the track. "Good. I'm glad you liked it," Asami said as she pulled out her keys from her gray skinny jean pocket.

"I like hanging out with you," Korra found herself saying. Her blue eyes met with Asami's warm green ones. "It's…interesting." She grinned.

The raven-haired girl smiled. "I really like being around you, too."

* * *

Most times, Korra appreciated Bolin's diplomacy and his friendliness. It made her feel comfortable and at ease.

But sometimes, his kindness would get in the way of her temper.

This was one of those times.

The girl was paired with Mako for chest-pass practicing that afternoon, and no matter how hard she passed, the annoying team Captain would claim that she wasn't throwing hard enough.

"Come on, guys," Bolin said as he nervously watched the two pass the ball with furiousity. "Try not to kill each other."

Ignoring him, Korra practically chucked the ball at Mako, smirking as he toppled backwards from the force.

"That hard enough for ya?" she said in victory.

The team captain stood up, glaring at her. Coach Tenzin blew his whistle before Mako could respond, however.

"Alright, guys," Coach said as the team gathered around. "We have our first game this Friday. It's against Clanberrie. Big game."

"That's one of our biggest rivals," Bolin whispered to Korra, filling her in. "Not as big as the Gallahander Bats, though. _Those_ are our sworn enemies."

Tenzin continued, "Now I know they have some intimidating point guards. Their starters are not bad players, and I'm not going to pretend like this will be some easy win. But with our speed and teamwork, we make up for our size." Coach Tenzin put his hands behind his back, his calm voice making Korra feel more and more determined to pulverize the Clanberrie team every second. "As some of you know, this is also when various college recruiters will view our team. So play your absolute best." Nodding his head in finality, Tenzin checked his watch. "You all are dismissed."

Pulling her backpack across her shoulders, Korra frowned as Mako passed by her, tension completely ruling his body language.

"What's up with your brother?" she asked Bolin as they left the gym together.

the cheery junior shrugged. "He's just…nervous for Friday."

Korra pouted. "Well, he shouldn't be. We're all going to try our best and-"  
"It's not that." Bolin's voice had a tone of seriousness to it, and it was so unlike him that Korra stopped to face him.

Sighing, Bolin said, "Mako's nervous about the college reps. That's probably why he was so hard on you today." He glanced away. "He really wants a scholarship for college, since we can't really afford anything beyond high school. It's one of his only reasons for working so hard at basketball."

Korra's mouth felt dry; but before she could respond, she heard a car horn and turned to see someone waving at Bolin.

"There's my ride," her green-eyed friend said, walking past her. "See you tomorrow!" He said, no hint of sadness in his voice anymore.

* * *

"Here is your Panini, and here's _your _chicken tenders," Korra said to the child as she handed her the plate. "Careful, it's a bit hot!" Giving the kid a grin, she turned to go back to the kitchen and pick up some more orders.

It was a pretty big swing at the café that evening, and the senior girl found herself on her feet the entire time. Even Iroh was pulling plates around, which reminded her how he wasn't the manager, officially.

Pulling out her notepad, Korra made her way to the next table that she was supposed to serve.

"Not so fast," Iroh suddenly said as he came up to her. "You _need_ a break."

Pulling her with him into the employee room, Iroh took a seat as Korra sat across from him. "Thanks for that," she said, letting herself catch her breath.

Her boss pulled out a cigarette, causing Korra to raise her eyebrows. "You smoke?" She asked.

"Only when things are getting a bit stressful," Iroh responded, the cigarette moving with his lips. "College shit on top of this…it gets a bit rough at times."

"What are you majoring in, anyway?" she asked him.

"Business. But I plan on joining the army when I get done with the degree." He leaned back, putting his arms behind his back.

"That's pretty cool," Korra said in surprise. Now that he mentioned it, she could really see Iroh be some sort of officer or official position in the military.

Iroh nodded. "Hey, um…" he took the cigarette out of his mouth, casually standing up. "When did you say your 18th birthday was, again?"

Korra glanced up at him. "In about 4 months. Why?" she asked him in curiosity.

Her boss shrugged awkwardly, making her even more curious. "Just for business reasons, you know," he muttered, shuffling a hand through his hair. And almost causing Korra to drool.

That damn action.

"Well, we should probably get back," Korra said, standing up.

"Ah, shit." Iroh looked back at her, opening the door. "Ladies first," he said, smirking at her.

"Fuck you," she joked, walking through the door anyway as he laughed.

* * *

A jazzy tune played as Korra's phone lit up, warning her of an incoming call.

In the middle of her history homework, Korra pouted as she glanced at her cell. The number wasn't recognizable, but the area code was, so she picked it up anyway.

"Hello?" She said into the receiver, picking her pencil back up.

_"Hello yourself,"_ A velvety voice responded, almost causing Korra to groan.

"Dude, how the hell did you get my number?" Korra said in annoyance.

_"I have my ways. And anyway, I'm calling to just wish you luck on tomorrow's game." _When Korra didn't respond, she heard his voice ask, _"is everything okay?"_

Sighing, Korra replied, "There's…definitely a lot riding on this game."

_"Don't worry about it,"_ Tahno said. "_If you can play as good as you can punch, Clanberrie will have to seriously watch theirselves tomorrow." _She could practically hear his smirk as Tahno added, _"I'll be there to cheer you on."_

"Thanks," she said, surprised to find herself smiling. Tahno's words had actually calmed her down a bit. "I'll count on it."

And when she ended the call, she decided to add his number to her contacts just because.

* * *

**Sooooo next chapter is gonna be a doozy.**

**Mako had the most amount of votes, so he got the most screentime.**

**Remember the rules of voting:**

**People can come back as love interests. So for example, if Amon got no votes last chapter but dominates the votes for this chapter, he will come back as a love interest.**

**It's not so much a 'vote' as it is a popular voice.**

**You can vote for anyone. Some more prominent interests are (but you can vote outside of this if you want):**

**Mako**

**Iroh**

**Tahno**

**Asami**

**Bolin**

**and heads up, next chapter you'll see some book 2 characters!**

**Please review and thanks for keeping up so far :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Heads up to my friend for helping me out with basketball rules. You know who you are ;)

This chapter is...well...intense in the end so brace yourselves.

* * *

The music was _loud._ Korra could hear it and feel the thump even in the locker room.

It was finally the big game against Clanberrie, and the clock read 6:30. 30 minutes until the first game of the year.

The blue-eyed girl was halfway between throwing up and laughing in hysteria. Clearly pretending that she wasn't nervous was pretty hard.

"Okay, guys," Mako said, calling the team into a huddle. "We can do this. Our team is in the best shape it's been for years." His eyes flew around the crowd, and landed on Korra's blue ones for a millisecond longer before focusing back on the general team. "Let's go show them what we're made of."

The group cheered, filing out.

Some funky electronic song (probably one from Bolin's M83 practice mixes) filled the air, along with the cheers from the bleachers as the team arrived on scene. They were already chock full, and it wasn't even gametime yet.

_No pressure._

The team took the 30 minutes to practice layups and foul shots, eyeing the their opponents on the other side the entire time. Korra couldn't deny it- Clanberrie was good. Each guy was as tall as Mako (Who was the tallest guy in her own team) and as built as Bolin.

She couldn't help but notice how the Clanberrie Coach kept pointing to her, too, as Coach Tenzin and him were in deep discussion.

"Hey." A pat on her back got the girl's attention, and Korra turned around to see Mako's amber eyes trained on hers. "Let's go see what that's about," he said, pointing at the coaches.

So he noticed, too.

As the two players approached the coaches, Coach Tenzin suddenly looked furious, his grip on his clipboard close to breaking it.

"What's going on?" Korra demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

"I'm sorry, but we're not going to verse a girl!" the Clanberrie coach exclaimed, not even paying attention to Korra.

"Dude, I'm right here," she muttered. Louder, Korra said, "Coach Tenzin?"

The Coach turned his gaze to Korra. "The game begins in ten minutes, and you're in our starting lineup- I can't make adjustments _now_-"

Mako stepped up, clearing his throat. "Sir," he said, talking to the Clanberrie head, "There are no rules against a girl playing in the boy's basketball team. In fact, the basketball team isn't even strictly for a specific gender in our county's school laws."

Korra raised her eyebrows. Apparently Mako did his research.

"I don't care what you say," the coach said, his southern accent thick. "My team is not playing against some girl."

"Then forfeit," Korra stated, crossing his arms.  
"Excuse me?"  
"There are two ways this game could go. Either you play, or you forfeit." She smirked, not being able to hide her satisfaction at the sexist Coach's realization of the fact. "So choose your pick." And with that, she turned and walked back to the Court.

She didn't see how Mako grinned at her retreating back.

But she did hear the buzz that indicated it was game time.

* * *

Halftime in, the score was 24 for home and 30 for visitors.

The team was sweating like hell, grateful for the ten-minute halftime break. Korra was not feeling too hot, herself- the entire game had been sprinting non-stop, with tough quick passes and too many slow shots. She had been hit illegally more times than she could count, but the ref didn't call it- and Korra didn't want someone to pull the '_she's a girl, she's weak_,' card to blame the fouls on.

On top of that, the senior couldn't help but notice how fidgety Mako was. Every time their teammate missed a shot, or let a ball brush past them, she saw how he took a split second to eye the bleachers.

Of course he was nervous. The college recruiters were there, after all.

As they sat on the benches in the locker room, drinking water from the cooler and catching their breath, she made sure to sit next to him.

"Hey," she breathed, giving him a smile. He gave her a slight nod.

They didn't say much; and when Tenzin walked into the room, giving the new plays, the team listened with intensity. But as they prepared to go back on the court, Korra managed to pat Mako's hand with her own. Her heart was practically beating through her chest, but something in her knew that it wasn't because of the game.

"You're an amazing player. Any college would be lucky to have you." It wasn't much, but the blue-eyed girl wanted to at least try to let Mako know that she would be there for him. He had supported her too, after all.

Instead of a response, he squeezed her hand, letting it linger there for a couple of seconds before standing up with her.

* * *

"And our own Mako Anderson has the ball- and folks, I think he's going for the three- he goes- and he makes it all-net! We're at a tie at 36-36, now, folks, and with only 5 seconds on the clock, this game sure is a doozy." Shino Shinobi, the school announcer, put his hands up in the air and leaned back, notifying listeners of his own stress.

Korra put her hands on her knees, struggling to catch her breath before going on defense. The other team had the ball, and although there were only 5 seconds left in the 4th and final quarter, they looked determined to make a winning point.

Korra was not going to let that happen.

She stole a quick look at the bleachers, and saw Asami- the girl had been watching the entire game, waving to Korra whenever the two met eyes- and also Tahno, who had been there since halftime. Although he wasn't cheering for a specific team, she saw how he smiled (not a smirk, but a real _smile_) when she made a shot or blocked a ball. Giving a tight smile to the two, the senior stood back up and got her hands up in defensive position.

The opposing team's point guard brought the ball up, and she was up against him, trying to pressure him into going out of court-

When his arm swooped down, literally pushing her out of the way.

Korra skidded to the ground, never mind the pain; she glanced at the refs, awaiting some sort of whistle

Thankfully, the referee called the foul, right when the clock rang and signaled the end of the game.

The entire crowd was quiet.

"Intentional foul," the ref called out, making the official call. "Two shots, free-throw line."

Korra breathed a sigh of relief, or gratitude, or maybe both- that meant that she would get two foul shots. If she made those shots, her team would win.

The other players filed off the court; part of the rule for intentional-foul free shots was that nobody could be on the court, except for the person who was shooting and the refs.

Bolin gave her a thumbs up as he left, his signature grin making her ease up. The other players also called from the sidelines, wishing her luck and giving her words of encouragement.

The entire crowd was on their feet, as well, making sure not to miss a moment of the shots.

Korra gave a shaky sigh as she lined up at the free-throw line. She could make foul shots in her sleep. She had this.

_Tune it all out,_ she told herself as the referee threw her the ball. The minute the basketball was in her hands, nothing else mattered; all that existed was that basket.

She dribbled it in place, lined it up firmly in her hands, and shot.

"37-36, folks!" Shino Shinobi announced, and the crowd suddenly came alive with cheers. Korra grinned. Even if she didn't make this second shot, the team still had won the game.

The ball came back into her hands, and she prepared for her final foul shot- as the ball left her fingers, she knew it would go through the basket.

"And the Feller Ferrets win the game, 38-36!" Shinobi practically screamed, trying to be heard over the ecstatic crowd.

Korra turned around, arranging to go back to the sidelines with the rest of the team- and found that she didn't need to. They ran onto the court, with Bolin pulling her on his shoulders, and cheered along with the rest of the crowd.

* * *

"That. Was. Amazing!" Asami squealed, grabbing Korra and pulling her in for a hug. "You're stinky," she sidenoted, scrunching up her nose.

Korra laughed. "I know!" She added. "I was a bit shaky, but I can't believe we actually pulled that off- I mean, did you see the _size _of those guys-"

"Hey, kid." Korra turned around to see- was that _Iroh?_

To Asami, she said, "I'll see you in a bit." The girl nodded, giving Korra one last smile before leaving the gym with the rest of the crowd.

"What're you doing here?!" she exclaimed. "I mean, I'm glad that you're here and all, but…?"

Her boss laughed. "This game is pretty big in town."

The senior raised her eyebrows. "We live in a huge ass city, though."

Iroh laughed again, pulling his leather jacket over his shoulders. "Well, this is a huge ass rivalry."

"Did you go here?" Korra asked, the thought popping into her head that Iroh was possibly alumni.

"Only for junior and senior year. I was a football player," Iroh added, "But once a Ferret, always a Ferret." He winked, smirking.

Korra laughed. "Well, I'll see you at work," she said, giving him a smile as she prepared to go to the locker rooms.

She was glad he had come to watch.

* * *

"There's apparently a party at Chris Wilker's house," Asami said, wiggling her eyebrows as Korra approached her car.

"I wish I could go," Korra said apologetically. "But I have family coming over tomorrow." Her annoying cousins and creepy uncle were visiting for the day, and she didn't want to risk anything.

"Don't wanna come home hungover, huh?" her friend joked.  
"I don't really believe in alcohol anyway," the senior stated nonchalantly. Asami raised an eyebrow.

"I just think getting drunk's stupid," Korra explained. "I mean, it's fun, but not my first choice of recreation. Plus it tastes like piss," she added.  
"I completely agree," Asami said. "Looks like you do have a mature side to yourself, after all," she teased, receiving a playful punch from Korra.

"See you Monday!" Asami waved as she got into her car, driving away with Lorde playing loudly on her radio.

* * *

Korra wanted to _die_. Right here and right now. It would be better than this hell her cousins were giving her.

"You look darker than when we last saw you. You must not get into the sun so much."

The basketball player kept her groan in, but didn't refrain from rolling her eyes as her creepy, weird, annoying, and creepy (_did she mention creepy?)_ girl cousin analyzed her looks like she was some type of model scout.

"For the millionth time, Eska, I am a _brown _person. My skin tone is _brown_." She glared at the girl. "So shut up and deal with it."

"So indecent," droned Desna, Eska's twin and Korra's other cousin, from the corner of her bedroom. "You live like an animal," he added, referring to Korra's slighty messy room.

"I can still see the floor, and that's all that matters."  
"No husband will want you."  
Now Korra couldn't keep her groan in. "What do you guys live in- the freaking stone age?!" She exclaimed in annoyance.

Luckily, her mother popped in just in time. "Dinner's ready!" She stated, giving Korra a look that said _you're welcome._

As the cousins left her room, Korra dropped her head into her arms. "How much longer," she groaned.

"Just a couple more hours, sweetie," her mother said, rubbing her back supportively. "You know your father and I don't like Unalaq all that much either."

Korra let out a short laugh. "That's an understatement."

Her mother patted her head. "Only a few more hours," she reminded.

* * *

Ha. 'Only a few more hours'. How funny.

After dinner was over, the twins declared that they wanted to watch a movie.

"Oh, Korra, be a darling and take them to see one," her uncle asked (or, more correctly, commanded). "They were so excited to see you."  
Trying to keep from laughing out loud at the obvious lie, Korra had to comply. Grabbing her keys, she drove as the cousins berated her from the backseat.

Finally at the movie theater, the blue-eyed girl ordered the tickets at the automatic ticket machine (paying fully for the three of them, with no compensation whatsoever from the cousins).

As they entered the inside of the theater, Eska declared, "I will go find us some plausible seats." Her and Desna silently glided away from their cousin.

Korra glared at their retreating backs before turning around and deciding that she could use some candy.

She was about to go to the register when she saw a familiar figure.

"Mako?"  
The figure turned around, and it was indeed him.

"Oh, hey," he said, scratching the back of his neck.

"What movie?" she asked, silently joining him in the line.

"Some scary one Bolin wanted to watch. Dragged me along for the rated-r tickets." Korra laughed at this.

"Sounds just like him." She sighed. "I'm here with my cousins."  
"Babysitting?"  
"More like trying not to get murdered," she snorted. At Mako's confused look, she added, "it's complicated."

He nodded his head, although Korra could tell he pretty much thought she was crazy.

"Wanna ditch?" she said randomly, enjoying the time that she was spending with Mako. She didn't want them to just say an awkward 'see you at school' once they had paid for their stuff- for some reason, she wanted to get to know him better.

The amber-eyed guy raised his eyebrows. "You mean just- leave?"

Korra shrugged. "Why not?"

She grinned when he just said, "…sure."

* * *

"He doesn't look a thing like Jesus!" The blue-eyed girl sang along to the radio, as Mako shook his head comically in the seat next to her.

"Come on, everyone has to love the Killers," she said to him, prodding him to sing along with her.

Mako rolled his eyes, not believing himself when he stated, "When you were young."

Korra shrugged. "You didn't _sing_ it, but I'll take it," she laughed. "Do you mind if I look through your collection?" she added, pointing towards the CD case on the floor of the passenger seat.

He shook his head, giving her his consent. Unzipping the case, Korra leafed through the pages of CDs.

"Franz Ferdinand," she muttered. "You actually really look like someone who listens to Franz Ferdinand, now that I think about it."

"You've heard of them?" Mako asked, surprised.

Korra nodded. "Have a few songs from them, yeah." She leafed through a couple more CDs. "You like jazz, too?"  
Mako smiled (his smile really looked nice on him). "My mom got me into it when I was just a kid." Suddenly, his smile evaporated as quickly as it came.  
Korra didn't have a chance to say anything, though, because they pulled up to a McDonalds right then.

* * *

"I had fun," the blue-eyed girl stated when they came back to the movie theater two hours later.

The two had dinner at a McDonalds, with an improvised visit to some college basketball game going on at the gym next door. Korra had learnt a lot about Mako, as well- like how he had gone to Feller High since freshman year; how he didn't like ketchup with his fries; how he was considering going into something law-related for a career.

She had gotten to see him smile and laugh more times than she thought was possible from Mako, which proved to her that he really wasn't that bad of a guy.

"So did I," he responded after a while, tucking the keys into his jean pocket. "You're bearable enough," he joked, giving her a side-glance with a smirk.

"You're decent enough too," Korra teased back.

"So…" Mako said when they got to the outside complex of the theater.

Korra turned to face him, finding him scratching the back of his neck again.

It really was appealing, how he did that whenever he was feeling awkward.

And what happened next was a blur.

Before she could think, the girl pushed herself up and her lips met with Mako's- muffling the surprised 'mmf!' that he let off- and she closed her eyes, hoping he would respond positively-

And he kissed back.

_He kissed her back._

Mako's lips moved against hers as his hands found her hips and her own found themselves at his shoulders. (All Korra could think was '_wow, he's good at this.')_

She was happy in her la-la land of making out with Mako, but reality had to butt in.

"…Korra?"

Korra pulled away from Mako suddenly, her hands still at his shoulders, as she looked to her right.

Iroh was standing right there.

Watching her. Make out. With Mako.

"...Hi," she managed to say. Realizing that her hands were still in contact with Mako, she let go, with him following afterwards.

"Um- hey, I'm Iroh, I work with Korra." Iroh stuck out a hand to shake with Mako.

"Mako. Uh, classmate," Mako said as he shook it.

"That looked more than 'classmates' to me," Iroh said, raising his eyebrows. "I'll see you later," He said to Korra, and with that, he left.

"I should probably go too," Mako said awkwardly as he pulled his phone from his pocket.

"What?" Korra asked, still dazed from the turn of events that just happened to grace her.

"Bo's movie would be done about now. I should get the car started up." He was back to being stony, closed-off Mako, apparently; Korra turned to face him, but his look was one of seriousness, with no trace of the kiss left in his expression.

Korra sighed, suddenly tired. "Fine," she muttered. "I guess you should."

Without another word, she walked away, feeling confused (by the kiss and what it meant to Mako) and pretty terrible (About Iroh, though she wasn't so sure why).

* * *

**Mako and Iroh got the most amount of votes for this chapter- but Mako was waaay in the lead.**

**VOTING RULES RECAP!**  
**Please vote for one person in particular!**

**It's not as much a 'vote' as it is a popular voice.**

**No negative votes will be counted (ex: 'I just don't want her to end up with Tahno!") you have to vote for a person in specifics.**

**You can vote a new person each chapter if you want. You can also vote for the same person each chapter. And of course, you have every right to vote for each chapter (that's kind of the idea :P).**

**Also, please make sure you vote under Chapter 4 if you want your vote to count for chapter 4! I was lenient about it last time, since it was my fault that you guys didn't know that, but if you vote under the most recent chapter counting votes will be a lot easier :) Message me if you have any trouble with anything!**

**And please, please don't vote under 'guest'. Make an ff account or give yourself some sort of guest nickname if you can't/have trouble with it. I don't want one person to vote 3000 times under a guest account. It's not fair to the rest of us.**

**(Also, guys, don't slam other ships in your comments. Be respectful of everyone.)**

**Prominent love interests (you can vote outside of this if you want to):**  
**Mako**

**Iroh**

**Tahno**

**Asami**

**Bolin**

*****by voting outside, I mean voting for someone like Amon, Beifong, etc.**

**(also i avoided the high school party scene for this chapter but coughcough it will be in the next one I CAN'T RESIST :D )**


	5. Chapter 5

So a lot of you sent in recommendations for the future of the storyline. Thank you so much, I loved getting them! They're extremely helpful when i'm stumped about the story. Feel free to continue sending them in.

High school party scene in this chapter, just like i promised ;)

* * *

"Korra, honey?"

Blue eyes looked up from her computer screen, which was currently playing an episode of _Lost. _Korra had learnt about the show from Asami, who was crazy nuts about it. One benefit of the fact that the show was over was that all the seasons were online, and Korra had been hooked on watching it over the past week or so.

Her mother gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry to interrupt you, but I have to go to work for a few hours and our grocery list is getting big. Could you do the shopping today?"

Korra raised her eyebrows. "I thought you didn't work on Sundays."

"Making myself some future vacation time," her mom responded as she grabbed her bag. "Bye, sweetie!" she said, and was gone.

Korra sighed, smirking. Her mom really had a way of making Korra do things without waiting for her consent.

* * *

After a heavy afternoon of grocery shopping, Korra was practically done for the day. Apparently, grabbing a few veggies was harder than it looked.

When she started her engine, however, she saw how close she was to a certain Starbucks. That is, the Starbucks were Tahno worked.

Although the senior wasn't sure why, she started her engine and steered her car towards the coffee shop.

When she got there, a part of her was surprised to see how oddly vacant for a Sunday, given that it was Starbucks (and Starbucks is hardly ever vacant). She turned her attention to the cashier counter, where, sure enough, Tahno stood, eyes downcast at something in his hand.

"Hey," Korra greeted, tucking her keys in her pocket. "You work on weekends, too?"

Tahno looked up from his cellphone (_quite the diligent worker_, Korra thought sarcastically), smiling slightly once he saw that it was Korra. "Sometimes," he responded. "Though today's a bit weird. No one's around."

Korra glanced around the empty shop. "I noticed," she said, turning her attention back on Tahno.

A sudden silence threatened to settle on the pair.

"So, what're you here for?" Tahno asked, not unkindly.

Korra suddenly froze. She really didn't know why she was there at all, and wasn't quite in the coffee mood. "Um," she began. "I guess…I should thank you for showing up at the game on Friday? Even though, I mean, it's not like you went for _me_ or anything- but still, thanks for supporting me- I mean your school! Since I play for the school team, and… um." Silently cursing herself, Korra pulled her phone out of her pocket to avoid eye contact.

"No problem," she heard Tahno's velvety voice say, though when she looked up, he was wearing an amused smile. "Hey, I think I can take a break for a few minutes. Want to chill for a while?"

The girl shrugged. "Do I get free coffee?" she asked jokingly.

"As long as it's our secret," Tahno responded, causing her to grin.

* * *

"…And then when I got the ball- even though my teammate's pass was terrible- I just went for the kick, and it completely sailed in," Tahno finished, tearing a piece of his muffin. "And that's how I scored the winning goal for our district championships." He gave a satisfactory smirk.

"No wonder you're the MVP," Korra commented, taking a sip from her cup. "You planning to play for college?"

"Not really," Tahno responded. "I like soccer, but it's not on my college bucket list." Suddenly, a customer walked in, alerting the seniors. "Well, break's over," Tahno sighed.

Korra was just about to say goodbye when Tahno added, "You're coming to my party next Friday, right?"

The girl pouted. "What party?"  
"Mass invite? Facebook?"  
Korra gave him a look. "I don't have a Facebook, genius."

"Well, consider yourself invited. You should come," Tahno responded. He gave her a smirk. "That is, if you can handle it."

Korra rolled her eyes, laughing. "I'll be there," She tossed over her shoulder as she turned to leave.

* * *

That following Monday, Korra and Asami were parked in the school parking lot, seated in the car as Asami took in everything that happened to Korra the previous Saturday.

"So, let me get this straight," Asami recapped for the thousandth time. "You kissed him. He kissed you back. Your hot boss sees you guys-"  
"His name is Iroh," Korra muttered.  
"Iroh sees you guys, and then walks away pissed. And then Mako acts all awkward."

"Sounds about right," the blue-eyed girl sighed, pulling her bag over her shoulders as she exited the car. "It just doesn't make any sense! Why would Mako respond so positively and then suddenly shut himself off like that? I thought I had warmed up to him this time around." She groaned. "And then Iroh. Why did he act so weird?"

Asami laid a reassuring hand on Korra's shoulder. "Boys don't make sense most of the time," she said. "I guess the best thing you can do right now is see how it all flows out. But…" Asami stopped Korra, making her pay full attention. "Don't be too hard on Mako. He's had a…tricky childhood."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Korra asked, concerned.

"I think he should be the one to tell you, if he chooses," Asami responded after a pause. "Just don't push him." Suddenly, The bell rang, effectively cutting off the girls' conversation.

"Well, I'll see you at chem," Asami smiled at Korra before walking to class.

* * *

Korra's headphones were plugged into her ears, playing a Vaccines song as she made her way to her car at the end of the school day. She was just about to unlock it, reaching for the keys in her pocket, when someone tugged one of the buds out of her ear.  
"Hey!" She exclaimed, turning around to see whoever had done that.

It was Mako. He looked furious.

"What's your problem?!" Korra said. It came off sounding meaner than necessary, but Korra didn't really care- she was still confused about Mako's behavior on Saturday, and felt as if she deserved some answers.

"My problem? My problem is that I've just waited 30 minutes for you to come to your tutoring session just to have you blow me off! I don't have any time to just waste like that, Korra!"

The girl froze inwardly. She had completely forgotten about the tutoring session. But her anger from the guy's mixed message on Saturday still ruled her emotions. "Well, I guess we're even!" She found herself saying.

"What're you talking about-"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about! You kissed me back, and then two seconds later, just walk away like it was nothing-"

"I was taken by surprise!"

"Why don't you just admit it?!"

Korra and Mako were nose-to-nose now, practically fuming at each other. Korra vaguely noted just how close they were.

"Admit what," Mako said quietly, his amber eyes not leaving Korra's blue.

Korra wanted to scream. This guy was really stupid sometimes. "The fact that you like me, maybe? That the kiss meant something to you?" She knew she was aiming high, but Korra also knew that Mako felt something for her- that kiss wasn't a bland one.

The amber-eyed boy sighed, looking away. "I can't…_afford _to feel something for you, Korra."

The senior paused, confused. "What do you mean, 'afford'?" She looked down, suddenly aware that Mako might be rejecting her. "If you don't like me, have a pair and say it," she found herself demanding, her blue eyed flitting back to Mako.

"It's not that," he responded, still not looking at her. "I just-" his amber eyes finally glanced back at her, and Korra found her heart quickening its pace slightly.

"I like you, Korra," Mako finally said. "But I don't think we should jump onto some relationship at the moment." His gaze softened. "I'm sorry."

Korra was even more confused now. It was pretty obvious Mako was rejecting her, but why lie to her about his feelings about her?

Tired of interpreting his annoying vague answers, Korra just shrugged. "Whatever," the girl responded, ripping her gaze from Mako.

She turned around and walked quickly back to her car, not allowing herself to even think of tearing up.

* * *

As she pulled up to the café on Wednesday afternoon, Korra felt anxiousness take root.

After the awkward run-in with Iroh on Saturday, how the hell was she supposed to act around him? Pretend like it never happened? Confront him about it? Korra groaned. Deciding that it would be better to just rush in instead of contemplate about the situation inside her car, the girl got out and walked into the diner.

"Hey, Amon," she said, greeting the man behind the counter. He gave her a half-hearted wave as she made her way to the employee room to grab her apron.

The senior opened the door, spotting the aprons.

She also spotted Iroh, smoking and doing something on his phone.

Korra bit her lip before entering, not sure how to deal with her boss. Finally, she chose to go for the casual approach.

"Isn't smoking not allowed indoors?" Korra asked jokingly as she grabbed her apron. As she looked over her shoulder, she saw Iroh glance up and tuck his phone into his pocket.

"Didn't hear you come in," Iroh responded as he took another drag from his cigarette.

An awkward silence settled on the two as Korra finished tying her apron.

Seeing no other way out, Korra was just about to walk out of the room, when Iroh finally said something.

"Hey, Korra," he said, making her turn around. "Do you maybe want to catch some dinner after tonight's shift?" He ran his hand through his hair. "You've been pulling a lot of weight around here, so I thought you deserved something."

Korra grinned. "I could go for some dinner, yeah," She answered. Iroh smiled back in response.

* * *

Four hours later, Korra and Iroh were seated in some booth of a 60's styled diner, looking over the hamburger menus with milkshakes on the table.

"Everything here is dunked in, like, thirty pounds of oil," Korra commented as she looked through the various burgers.

"Just the way I like it," Iroh responded, causing her to smile.

The two ordered, making discussion and getting a few laughs. However, the moment Korra hoped wouldn't come approached her when Iroh bit his lip and looked away.

"So, your boyfriend's name is Mako, right?"

Korra froze mid-bite (totally attractive), glancing at Iroh. "He's not my boyfriend," she responded. "But yeah, I know him."

Iroh raised his eyebrows, looking back at her. "Did something happen...?"

"It's complicated," Korra answered, shrugging.

"If you want my advice, high school relationships are bullshit anyway," her companion said, trying to console her. "There was this girl- her name was Tai Lee- she and I had dated for two years, and I was completely heads over for her." Iroh shook his head at his own foolishness, chuckling. "So heads over that I gave her my credit card number and ended up with a huge bank statement."

Korra's eyes widened. "You're not serious."  
"I wish I wasn't."  
She found herself laughing. "You were an idiot!"  
Iroh laughed, too, chucking a piece of his tomato at her. "It was high school!" He excused. "Two long years ago."

Korra rolled her eyes. "You're _still _an idiot, in my opinion," she teased, earning another tomato piece.

* * *

"Asaammmiiiiiiii."

From upstairs, Asami's voice called out, "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

The raven-haired senior appeared at the height of the stairs, dressed in her usual casual clothing. Korra couldn't see what took her so long to get ready.

"I've been waiting for three years," Korra exaggerated, getting up from the couch.

"Sorry!" Asami responded, pulling her keys from her purse. "I completely messed up on my eyeliner and had to redo it, which takes _forever_." She smiled. "But hey, we'll still be at the party on time, so no worries." She turned around, smirking at Korra. "You ready for this?"

Korra pouted. "Yeah…? It's just a high school party."

"It's _Tahno_'s high school party. I've heard that they're crazy." Asami grinned. "But I guess we'll be the judge of that."

* * *

"I think this qualifies as 'crazy.'"

"Definitely," Asami answered as she observed the long line of cars parked around the neighborhood.

Loud music thumped from a certain house near the end of the block. People were strewn all over the lawn, and from the angle they were standing in, the duo could see people in the pool towards the back of the house as well.

"The cops are totally going to be here tonight," Asami muttered before starting her way towards the house, Korra beside her.

* * *

As they strolled around the house, socializing with people they knew and sipping out of red cups, Korra could feel herself getting a little hazier. Of course, all she had to drink was some fruit punch, so she didn't think much of it.

"You came," she heard a voice from her right say. Turning, the senior saw Tahno leaning against a wall.

"Big party," Asami yelled over the music. "How're you planning to cover this one up from your parents?"

Tahno waved a hand. "I've done it before," he said. He glanced at Korra. "Don't have too much to drink," he smirked.

Korra raised her red cup. "All I'm drinking is punch," she said. "Anyways, I need to pee. Where's your bathroom?"

Tahno pointed down the hall, which is where Korra pulled Asami towards with her.

* * *

"Korra! Where the fuck were you?!"

Asami's concerned voice floated over Korra, who was slumped on a couch, talking to whoever even glanced at her.

"I was right here, loony," Korra slurred, gently flicking Asami's forehead.

The green-eyed girl frownned. "I've been looking for you for the past two hours!" Asami groaned. "I can't take you home like this. My dad'll freak." She arched an eyebrow. "How many drinks did you have, sweetie?" the girl asked as a second thought.

"3, maybe 4 cups of punch?" Korra responded. "It's really good punch, Asami. Punch, punch!" Korra giggled at her own joke.

"Oh, dear lord," the raven-haired girl said under her breath. She promptly glanced up, apparently seeing someone that she recognized.

"Mako!" Asami called out.

Korra paused for a second, trying to realize what Asami said- but before she could say anything, Mako was standing above her with Asami.

"What the hell happened to her?" he was saying.

"She's, like, _completely_ out of it. I can't take her home like this-my dad just got back from his trip, and-"

Mako sighed. "Leave it to Korra to do something so stupid."

Korra frowned. "I can hear you, ya know!"

Mako glanced down at her, before looking back at Asami. "I'll take her with me."

Asami sighed in relief, giving Mako a hug. "You're a lifesaver." She turned back to Korra. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Sober up until then." Patting her head, Asami vanished into the crowd.

Korra sat up. "Did she seriously leave me alone with a poo-poo head like you," she slurred, pouting.

Mako frowned. "What did you have to drink?"

"A bunch of that reaaaally good punch."

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "You do know that the punch is severely spiked, right?"

Korra didn't respond to the question; instead, she pointed a finger at Mako. "You're hot," she blurted out.

Mako raised his eyebrows slightly. "You're drunk, Korra. Let's just get you out of here."

* * *

The next morning, Korra woke up to a bright light shining right into her eyes, through the blinds of the adjacent window.

"Fuck," she muttered, feeling a severe headache taking control all of the sudden.

"You awake, sleeping beauty?" A cheerful voice asked.

Korra recognized it as Bolin's.

Slowly, the girl shuffled herself to an upwards position, blinking herself awake. "What am I doing here?" she asked Bolin once she was somewhat awake. Her friend was seated in a chair across from her, reading some men's magazine.

"Welcome to Casa De Bolin! Oh, and Mako," he added. "As for what you're doing here, I don't really know," Bolin stated as a side note. "But you're welcome either way!"

"Thanks, Bo," Korra said, smiling sleepily.

"I'm going to make us some pancakes," Bolin said, moving to the kitchen. "Chocolate chips okay with you?"

"Yep."

Just then, Mako walked into the room.

"You're probably not feeling good," he stated as he scratched the back of his neck, letting out a tiny yawn.

The blue-eyed girl noted how nice Mako looked in his undershirt- but the headache distracted her from paying full attention at the sight in front of her.

"What happened?" she managed to ask, gratefully accepting the glass of water he handed to her.

"You drank a bunch of that punch at the party last night. I had to take you home, since Asami's dad just got back in town." Mako crossed his arms. "Almost puked on me three times."

Korra winced. "Sorry about that." She set the glass on the table near here, folding her hands in her lap. "But, um, thanks for taking me in."

Mako glanced at her, and Korra suddenly felt a surge of affection for him. His hair was tossed everywhere- pieces of it sticking up in random directions, with some flattened onto his forehead. His eyes had that soft look about them that he got sometimes- the one that he also got when she had kissed him.

Shaking herself out of it, Korra looked back down. She couldn't think about the kiss anymore. Mako wasn't into her like that, anyway.

"You're welcome," she heard him say.

Mako shuffled closer to her, his hand reaching out to suddenly move a couple of strands of hair away from her face.

Korra looked up, surprised at the sudden show of affection.

The guy pulled his hand away, apparently realizing what he was doing, and scratched the back of his neck. "Um, I'm going to help Bo with the pancakes," he muttered as he walked towards the kitchen.

He hadn't walked fast enough to make Korra completely miss the blush on his cheeks, however.

* * *

**M**ako got the most amount of votes, with Iroh and Tahno in tie for second place. This story is really getting popular! Thanks, guys!**!**

Oh and whatever's going on in the Legend of Korra show right now does not affect the story. I'm basing the characters off of their base personalities, but the storyline is completely separate.

**VOTING RULES RECAP!**  
**Please vote for one person in particular!**

**It's not as much a 'vote' as it is a popular voice.**

**No negative votes will be counted (ex: 'I just don't want her to end up with Tahno!") you have to vote for a person in specifics.**

**You can vote a new person each chapter if you want. You can also vote for the same person each chapter. And of course, you have every right to vote for each chapter (that's kind of the idea :P).**

**Also, please make sure you vote under Chapter 5 if you want your vote to count for chapter 5! if you vote under the most recent chapter counting votes will be a lot easier :) Message me if you have any trouble with anything!**

**And please, please don't vote under 'guest'. Make an ff account or give yourself some sort of guest nickname if you can't/have trouble with it. I don't want one person to vote 3000 times under a guest account. It's not fair to the rest of us.**

**(Also, guys, don't slam other ships in your comments. Be respectful of everyone.)**

**Prominent love interests (you can vote outside of this if you want to) :**  
**Mako**

**Iroh**

**Tahno**

**Asami**

**Bolin**

*****by voting outside, I mean voting for someone like Amon, Beifong, etc.**


	6. Chapter 6

Hey everyone! So this chapter was a little short, but I guarantee it's still eventful.

* * *

Korra sighed as she glanced at the paper on her desk, which was turned face-down. Next to her, Asami flipped the paper on her own desk.

"An 85%," the raven-haired girl said, relieved. She glanced at Korra. "Are you going to touch that?" Asami asked, pointing to the chemistry test paper on the athlete's desk.

Korra groaned. "Better get it over with," she muttered, quickly taking the corner of the test and flipping it to reveal the grade.

"…A 92," she breathed, surprised. "I actually got an A!" Turning to Asami, the girl shoved the paper in her friend's face, ecstatic.

"That's amazing!" Asami congratulated, leaning over and hugging Korra. "Looks like tutoring sessions with a certain broody basketball player is helping," she added, her voice hinting a teasing tone.

The blue-eyed girl shrugged, smiling. "I guess they are."

* * *

Korra was about to fall asleep.

Math class was such a waste of time. Not because of the math part, but because of the 'being surrounded by morons' aspect of it.

Rolling her eyes as the teacher went over the homework for the thousandth time, Korra pulled out her phone, entertaining the idea of playing a game or two to pass the time.

However, two text messages appeared on the main page. They were both from Iroh and had been received a couple of minutes ago.

Frowning, the girl unlocked her phone, reading the messages.

**_10:34- Iroh_**

_Hey, I know you don't work tuesdays but I really need your help tonight_

**_10:36- Iroh_**

_the manager is coming in_

Korra typed back her response, quickly thinking over her schedule before clicking the 'send' button.

_I can work tonight, sure. What time?_

A second later, Iroh's response lit up the phone.

**_10:42- Iroh_**

_the usual 4-7. Please be on time! Thanks_

Tucking her phone in her pocket, Korra couldn't help but wonder why Iroh was so frazzled. Was the manager that bad of a guy?

Puzzled, the senior tried to focus back on the equations her teacher was writing on the board.

* * *

"Hey."

Korra looked to her right, seeing Tahno smirking back at her. He hadn't even touched the Shakespeare sonnet they were supposed to be working on.  
"So it seems like you enjoyed my party on Saturday," he started.

Korra glared at him before turning her attention back to her work. "Did you really feel the need to add a bunch of shit to that punch?"

"Why not? Getting drunk's fun," Tahno responded, "Especially when you're a huge lightweight."

Korra pouted. "I _am not_ a lightweight."

"You had about two cups before you were gone."  
"Four!"

"Break it up back there!" The teacher demanded from her desk at the front of the classroom, making Korra and Tahno quiet down.

"Well, I was glad you came," Tahno said quietly, glancing at his notebook as he picked up his pen. "I was sort of expecting you not to."

"Why?" Korra asked, intrigued.

Tahno shrugged, still not looking at her. "Just because I didn't think you'd really give it the time of day."

Korra punched him lightly in the shoulder. "You're not _that_ annoying," she muttered, getting a smirk out of him.

Settling back in her seat, the girl couldn't help but notice that the seat to her left- where Mako usually sat- was empty.

* * *

"You're finally here," Iroh said, relieved, as Korra entered into the employee room.

Korra frowned. "I came 10 minutes early."

Iroh shuffled a hand through his hair, standing up. "Okay- get in uniform. Remember to be all smiles to the customers, and-"

"Dude!" Korra interrupted. "I know how to do my job." She glanced at him. "You okay?"

Iroh sighed. "No."

Korra awaited a further explanation.

"This guy- the manager- he's a really strict person. And if he doesn't like you, you're fucked." Iroh's eyes met Korra's. "I'm overstressing, aren't I?" He admitted, chuckling.

Korra laughed. "Just a little bit." She laid a hand on Iroh's shoulder. "We'll be fine. Relax."

Iroh smiled at her. "I'll try," he responded.

Just then, Amon's head popped from the door of the employee room. "Mr. Tarrlok's here," he said, solemn.

Iroh breathed out, turning back to Korra. "Ready for this?" he said.

"Yep," She responded, walking with him as they headed out.

* * *

"And how old did you say you were?"

"Close to 17, sir," Korra responded.

Tarrlok looked up. "Iroh here told me you were almost 18," he stated, giving a pointed glance at the man.

Iroh cleared his throat. "Uh- I guess I just-"

"I'm a senior. He probably got confused by that," Korra said, saving Iroh. "Started school early when I was a kid," she added to Tarrlok's skeptical look.

"Hmm." Tarrlok shuffled his papers. "Well, it looks like we're about done here. Good job tonight," he added, sticking out a stiff hand.

Korra shook it firmly. "Thank you."

Once Tarrlok had gone, Iroh surprised Korra by tackling her in a hug. "You did great," he said, pulling away and grinning.  
"Thanks," she smiled, untying her apron. "Told you it wasn't anything to sweat over," the senior teased.

"But, uh, I didn't know you were 16," Iroh added, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

"I skipped a year," Korra replied apologetically. "Sorry- I guess I forgot to tell you. But my birthday's close anyway, so I didn't think it was anything major."

Iroh shrugged. "Nah, it's fine." He patted the girl's shoulder. "Thanks for working today. You can take tomorrow off." Giving her a last smile, he turned to go back to the employee room.

* * *

A certain senior glanced down at the address at her phone before looking back out the car window to the house in front of her.

Korra threw her head back. This was possibly the worst idea she'd had in a while. What if Mako wasn't home? What if he didn't want to see her? No, that was stupid. She hadn't done anything wrong.

Korra couldn't ignore that her stomach was full to the brim with butterflies_. It's just Mako,_ she told herself, but for some reason, Mako had the girl all in a tizzy for no reason at all.

Besides the kiss.

And the fact that he took care of her when she was drunk.

And the way he smiled, and the way his hair stuck out, and-

Korra shook her head, grabbing the plate in the car seat adjacent to her and getting out of the vehicle. She really had to stop overthinking when it came to the amber-eyed idiot.

Ringing the bell, the girl stood with her plate, waiting for someone to answer the door.

The person who opened it was just who she was hoping for.

"Korra?" Mako muttered, confused. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey," Korra greeted. "I sort of have something to give you," she added sheepishly.

Mako raised his eyebrows. "You wanna come in for a bit?"

"Sure," the blue-eyed girl responded, smiling at him.

* * *

"Thanks," Korra said as Mako passed her a can of coke.

"Sure thing," he responded. "So, what's up?"

Reaching into her bag, Korra pulled out her test with a 92% written on the top of it. "I aced my first chem test today," she said, grinning at Mako.

The amber-eyed guy looked at the test. "That's fantastic, Korra," he complimented with a smile. "I guess that's what the cookies are for?" Mako added, his eyes flitting back to Korra's.

"Yeah," she replied. "The tutoring really helped me out, so thank you."

A question suddenly came to Korra's mind. "Hey, why weren't you at school today? You don't look sick."  
Mako coughed. "Uh, yeah. I had some court stuff to do."

The girl raised her eyebrows. "Court stuff? Is everything okay?"  
"Yeah, yeah," Mako assured her, glancing away. "I just had to go through some…ownership contracts. Since I'm of-age to own my own place and stuff, you know. Legally an adult and all that."

The blue-eyed girl stared at Mako, confused.

"It's my 18th birthday today," the stoic teenager finally replied, his amber eyes meeting Korra's.

"What?!" She exclaimed. "Why didn't you say anything?" Not waiting for an answer, the girl grabbed Mako's hand and pulled him up. "Come on."

"What- what are you doing- Korra!" Mako had no time to say anything as Korra pushed him through the door of his house.

"We're going to celebrate," the girl responded, closing the door behind her and pulling Mako to her car. "I'm not going to let your pissy mood get in the way of your 18th."

Mako sighed. "There's no convincing you out of this, is there."

"Nope."

The teenage boy pouted. "I'm not 'pissy'."

Korra rolled her eyes, turning her key. "Believe what you want to, cool guy," she responded, chuckling at his defensive look.

* * *

Bolin shook his head, grinning. "I honestly don't know anyone who could have gotten Mako to get out for his birthday," he said. "But then, Korra comes along."

Korra grinned back. Just then, Asami came through the door of the restaurant, rushing to the booth.

"How did you manage this?" the raven-haired girl said after she had hugged her friends. "Mako never celebrates his birthday."

"I literally forced him out," Korra responded somewhat sheepishly. Bolin and Asami laughed, commenting on how that was just like Korra.

Korra turned around, seeing Mako come out from the bathroom and make his way back to the booth. "Whoa- how many people did you invite?" he asked Korra, scowling.

Korra waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry, birthday boy. It's just us."

"Breath a bit, bro!" Bolin added, shuffling Mako's hair. "Let yourself have some fun for an hour or two."

Asami nodded in agreement. "You deserve this, Mako," she said.

The amber-eyed teenager turned back to Korra.

"This is all your fault," he muttered, but at Korra's mischievous grin, Mako couldn't help but let out a small smile.

* * *

"Had fun?" Korra said as they reached Mako's place.

Bolin and Asami had left a couple minutes ago, carpooling. Which left the kidnapped Mako to go back home with Korra after the dinner. Korra felt especially proud of herself- it felt like everyone had enjoyed the night, even Mako.

The teenage boy shrugged. "If you disregard the part where I was forced out of my own house," he joked, smirking at Korra with a light laugh at his lips.  
"I had to get you out of there somehow!" The girl defended, although she, too, was laughing.

Mako glanced at Korra. "Well, I guess I should finish some homework," he said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow," Korra said, turning to face Mako. She gave him a smile. "Happy birthday."

Mako glanced around, suddenly nervous. "Um-" he cleared his throat, reaching to scratch the back of his neck again. "I wanted to-"

Korra arched an eyebrow, waiting for Mako to finish his sentence.

And Mako suddenly grabbed her face with his hand, pulling her towards him as his lips touched hers.

The kiss wasn't like the first- it was much lighter - but somehow, it left Korra just as fazed.

Their lips broke, but Mako rested his forehead against hers. "Thanks, Kor," he muttered, before turning around and getting out of the car.

Korra stared after him, extremely muddled.

But she was still smiling like an idiot.

* * *

The next day, however, Mako was nowhere to be seen.

"He has college applications to do today," Bolin told Korra. "Last-minute deadlines and stuff."

"Pulls a lot of weight around, huh."

Bolin nodded. "Yeah, he does. He has work today, too. That guy needs to give himself a break sometimes."

"Where does he work?" Korra asked, out of curiosity.

Bolin responded, "at a movie theater near Winnea Street. They actually pay pretty good for a movie theater. But then again, on weekends he does work at that gym, so I guess he pulls money from everywhere."

Korra raised her eyebrows. "He works a lot for an 18 year old."

The green-eyed friend glanced down. "Yeah…Hey, do you know where I could get better basketball shoes?"

Korra noticed the quick change of topic, but decided not to mention anything about it and continued the conversation.

* * *

"Iroh!" Korra called from the supply closet. "Could you bring a stool?"

The senior was trying to reach for a bottle of windex, but some idiot had put it on the highest shelf, making it difficult to reach.

Luckily, her boss arrived with what she had asked for. "It's kind of broken," Iroh said, pointing to one of the legs of the stool, "but it's all we got."

Korra groaned. "Could you stand behind me?" she asked as she tested out the stool. "In case I lose my balance or anything."

Iroh nodded, allowing Korra to grab the windex quickly.

But suddenly, the stool gave away, nearly causing Korra to topple over.

"Whoa- watch your step," Iroh breathed, catching the girl and steadying her.

Korra glanced up, about to thank him, when she noticed how close they were. Iroh's face was literally inches away from her own.

Korra's eyes quickly glanced at his lips.

"Um-" The girl pushed away slightly, giving some space between the two. "Thank you," she said, pretending like nothing had happened.

"Uh, yeah. Sure thing." Iroh ran his fingers through his hair, pausing for a moment or two, before deciding to exit the room.

The senior breathed out, somehow not surprised that she had contemplated kissing the guy when they were so close.

_But it was just in the heat of the moment,_ Korra told herself. _You don't actually feel anything for him._

She couldn't tell if she was lying about that last part or not.

* * *

Mako got the most votes, but Iroh was a very close second. Tahno came in third!

**VOTING RULES RECAP (please read- new stuff sometimes)**

**Please vote for one person in particular!**

**It's not as much a 'vote' as it is a popular voice.**

**No negative votes will be counted (ex: 'I just don't want her to end up with Tahno!") you have to vote for a person in specifics.**

**You can vote a new person each chapter if you want. You can also vote for the same person each chapter. And of course, you have every right to vote for each chapter (that's kind of the idea :P).**

**Also, please make sure you vote under Chapter 6 if you want your vote to count for chapter 6! if you vote under the most recent chapter counting votes will be a lot easier :) Message me if you have any trouble with anything!**

**And please, please don't vote under 'guest'. Make an ff account or give yourself some sort of guest nickname if you can't/have trouble with it. I don't want one person to vote 3000 times under a guest account. It's not fair to the rest of us. Some of you guys had voted for a person more than once under different nicknames- that trick doesn't work. I didn't count those votes since they're cheat votes.**

**(Also, guys, don't slam other ships in your comments. Be respectful of everyone.)**

**Prominent love interests (you can vote outside of this if you want to) :**  
**Mako**

**Iroh**

**Tahno**

**Asami**

**Bolin**

*****by voting outside, I mean voting for someone like Amon, Beifong, etc.**


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